The story of two Teessiders and a Yorkshire Schnauzer turning their first house into their first home, one DIY project at a time.

Saturday, 23 July 2016

Five Challenging Lake District Walks.

Now when I say challenging, a pro rambler would probably laugh at this list but this post isn't aimed at them! No, my target audience for this post is for people just like me who aren't completely and totally unfit, but do struggle to commit to exercising more than once a week - unless my new phase of Clubbercise is included because I have been keenly attending twice a week for the past month which is a huge, huge commitment for me. If you don't know what Clubbercise is then pls google this. Like right now. Or maybe after you've finished this blog post..

Anyway, enough rambling (LOL). Here's some walks for people like me. I haven't written step by step how to do them as you can google that easy enough but I have included my thoughts on each walk, as well as some obligatory pretty pictures.

1. The Two Langdales. 95% of this walk is flat and easy to complete. It just takes four hours from start to finish that's all so pack some snacks and plenty of water for en route. Very, very rewarding!

2. Ambleside to Troutbeck via Wansfell Pike. The first hour or so of this walk is very much a steep uphill climb to the top of Wansfell BUT the views are amazing of Ambleside town and Lake Windermere. Once you're up, it's an easy walk down to either Troutbeck or back through to Ambleside. Troutbeck will take approx 4 hours whereas back to Ambleside will take 2.5-3 hours.

3. Grasmere Caves. This is a lovely chilled walk alongside Grasmere lake, towards Rydal Water. Slightly uphill between the two lakes lies a huge cave built into Loughrigg Fell. It's filled with water and stepping stones so you can explore inside this eery wonder until your hearts content - worth the walk to see something a little bit different!

4. Buttermere Lake. If your staying in Ambleside, the drive to this lake is not for the faint hearted as you go up and down the fells with sheer drops at the sides of the road. Don't drive here in Winter. Once you get to Buttermere Lake it is a beautiful, easy walk around the lake which takes 1.5-2 hours at the most. A picnic on one of the shores would be perfect. I love how this lake is so beautiful, yet has been untouched by any form of commercialisation.

5. Fairfield Horseshoe. This ones a toughy. If you've managed to do all of the above you might want to give this a go. Begin in Grasmere climbing to the summit of Fairfield which is a 991m ascent before walking along the top of lots of fells with amazing views. You eventually descend back into Grasmere, conveniently next to a pub for a truely, well deserved pint. Takes 6.5 hours but honestly so, so worth it.

All of these walks are challenging to a lesser or greater extent, but the views you get from them and the amazing, rewarding feeling you get once you've done them is second to none! Take plenty of water, snacks and layer up as the weather changes often on the fells.

OMG I'm obsessed with Clubbercise, I started it in January and it is literally the only form of exercise that I love and never try and talk myself out of. Annoyingly my class was really poorly attended during the Summer so it's been cancelled until the Autumn (gutted as it now means I have to run more times a week and it's just not as good!)

I've been living in Newcastle for 3 years now but we haven't had much of an opportunity to explore the Lakes as we haven't had a car. We finally own one now so I'm really excited about getting out and about and trying some walks. Definitely going to save this for future reference!